Simon Cowellhas hit back over claims that Cher Lloyd's survival on Sunday's Mary Byrne was eliminated, instead of letting the public decide who should make the grand final on Saturday.

[uuid=bc193d36-0435-449f-8def-dd41243968ab]CHECK OUT PICS OF THE 2010 X FACTOR FINALISTS IN MTV'S GALLERY HERE!![/uuid]

Reports also suggested thatCheryl Cole, will appear on her debut album…even if she doesn't win the talent contest.
Speaking of the fix rumours, the music mogul told The Sun: "We haven't done anything wrong."
"All the artists knew there was going to be a sing-off. Mary and Cher were told last Monday to prepare a song for a sing-off if necessary."

Simon also stated that the format of the show could not have been modified to suit Cher, as no-one knows who will be in the bottom two until host, Dermot O'Leary, reveals the results.

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Cowell explained: "I genuinely do not know the exact placings of the artists - who is top and who is bottom. I never know those details until the series is finished."

"There has always been a sing-off when there are five people left in the competition. This is a lot of nonsense about nothing."
He added: "I'm always looking for ways to keep the show fresh. We knew we wanted four people in the final this year and I don't want to be accused of doing the same thing."

"It's more exciting and gives more people a chance to win it. That decision was made long ago - five or six weeks ago. It adds to the mystery and audience love the surprise element."

"We are doing our best to change the format. It's more exciting to have a sing off."

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Despite reports that axed hopeful Mary has landed a record deal with Sony, the former Tesco's worker has also claimed she believes the show was rigged for Cher, telling The Mirror: "It’s a fix. It’s obvious Simon Cowell didn’t want me."

"It’s not the show the public think it is. I knew the public had voted for me to stay on and I actually thought the vote would be based just on their vote."

Byrne added: “It was only on Saturday I discovered that there would be a sing-off where the judges decided. It’s obvious Simon didn’t want me in the final and I get that."
"I’m not as marketable to him as Cher so he was never going to put me through. They fixed it for me to lose. It didn’t matter what the public think.”

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ITV has since issued a statement regarding the fix claims, stating that The X Factor rules explained: "the elimination of a contestant can be as the result of either a combination of the viewer vote in conjunction with the judges’ decision or the viewer vote alone. Public votes only would decide who won this weekend."

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